Wall type heater



Patented May 15, 1951 WALL TYPE HEATER Noel E. Blazer, Berkeley, Calif.,assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application April 6, 1949, Serial No. 85,915

(Cl. 21S- 34) 4 Claims.

My invention relates to a wall type heater, that is, a heater positionedin a recess or an opening in a wall.

The object of the invention is to minimize the deposit of particles ofmatter on the wall above the heater. Such deposit is commonly known assmudging.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a deflector which is disposedadjacent to but spaced from the top wall of the heater casing and thetop of the frame, and which also projects beyond the front face of theheater. This delector provides, together with said top wall and the topof the frame, a passage for free flow of cooler air continuously to anda little beyond the front face of the heater, and the deflector alsodirects the hot air away from the heater and the wall. The dei-lectorprojects from the front face of the heater a suiiicient extent to keepthe relatively hot and relatively cool air streams separated until theyhave attained substantially vertical direction of flow.

These and other objects are effected by the invention as will beapparent from the following description and claims taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, inwhich:

Fig. l is a perspective View showing the heater mounted in a wall;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line Fig. 3 is a section takenon the line III-III of Fig. 2, looking upwardly; and,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view, showing the passage forthe cooler air provided by the deflector.

The heater is of the wall or wall insert type and is shown on thedrawing as disposed mainly but not entirely within `a recess I providedin the wall Il. The heater is provided with an outer casing l2 whichincludes a rear wall i3; side walls I4, an inclined top wall I5 and abottom wall I6. It further includes an inner casing or deector l1provided with a rear wall i8, side walls I9, `a bottom wall 2U and aninclined top wall 2|, said walls being disposed in spaced relation tothe corresponding walls of the outer casing I2. The heating means isdisposed within the inner casing. It comprises a heating element 22which is supported upon the bottom wall of the inner` casing ordeflector I1 and having a passage 24 communicating with a registeringopening in the bottom wall 20.

A frame 25 extends around the front of the casing I2. This frame has afront wall 26, an

inner wall or flange 2l extending slightly inwardly of the casing i2,and an inclined outer wall or iiange 2E, the edge of which abuts againstthe face of the wall il. A grille or grille panel 3i extends across thefront face of the heater, and is disposed within and mounted on theframe 25 by means of pins 32 and spacer bushings 33. The grille 3l isthus a unit with, and is removable with, the frame 2c. The frame issecured in place in any suitable manner, such as by screws 31E.

In accordance with my invention, I provide the deflector 3&5 whichcomprises a short horizontal portion disposed cntop oi the grille 3i andsecured between said top and the spacer bushings 33. The defiectorfurther comprises an inner inclined portion St which extends along butspaced from the inclined top wall it of the outer casing, and it furtherincludes an inclined outwardly projecting portion 3l. As will be notedfrom the drawings, particularly Fig. 2, there is thus provided a passage35i, which extends rst between the defiector portion Sii and the topwall l5,

then between the horizontal portion of the deiiector and the innerflange 2l of the frame and then between the outer delector portion 3land the front wa1l2i of the frame.

The sup-ply of electric current to the heating element is controlled byany suitable means, the details of which form no part of this invention.

Operation rlhe ow of air is indicated by the arrows on the drawing andwill be clear therefrom. Air

enters through the openings in the lower portion of the grille Si and isdischarged therefrom through openings in the upper portion of thegrille. .A major portion of the air enters through the lower portion cithe grille into the space between the outer and inner bottom walls itand 2U. Some of this air passes through the openings in the bottom wall2t and the heating element, and provides the hottest stream of air. Theheated air discharged from the top of the heating element is deected bythe inner wall 2| and is discharged through openings in the adjacentportion of the grille 3|. Another stream of air enters the openings inthe grille above the inner bottom wall 2t, iiows upwardly in contactwith the heating element 22 and is heated thereby, and then mixes withthe heated air leaving the interior of the heating element. Anotherportion of the air entering the space between the walls i6 and 2! passesupwardly through the space between the inner and outer rear walls andthis air stream remains relatively cool as it does not pass in contactwith the heating unit. This air stream serves to cool the inner casing.A portion of this air stream passes through the passage between theinner top Wall 2| and the baille 3S and is mixed to some extent With thehot air leaving the heating unit. Thus, a relatively hot air stream isdischarged through the upper openings in the grille 3|.

Another portion of the relatively cool air passing between the rearwalls passes through the above-mentioned passage 38 beginning with thespace between the baffle 36 and the outer top wall i5. As thisrelatively cool air stream is discharged from the space between thedeilector portion 31 and the front wall 26 of the frame, its directionhas been changed to substantially vertical upward direction. Therelatively hot air discharged through the openings in the upper portionof the grille 3| is deflected outwardly laway from the wall by theprojecting portion 31 of the deflector, and then flows upwardly inparallel with the relatively cool air stream. The relatively cool airstream provides a blanket which separates the hot air stream from thewall and thereby minimizes the deposit of particles on the wall.

An important characteristic of the deflector is that the outwardlyprojecting portion 31 projects outwardly a sufficient distance to permitthe cool air stream to attain a substantially vertical direction beforeit is able to mix with the hot air stream. In this way, the air streamsare caused to flow upwardly in parallel with a minimum of mixing andturbulence. To this end, the deflector portion 31 projects outwardly adistance at least as great or preferably greater than the minimum widthof the passage 38, namely, the space between the horizontal portion ofthe deilector and the adjacent flange 27. In one embodiment of thepresent invention, the width of the spacing between the horizontalportion of the deflectoi and the adjacent flange 2l, as determined bythe spacer bushings 33, is inch.

Another characteristic of the deflector is that it extends inwardly asufcient distance to divide the air going into the passage 38 before theair flowing below the defiector mixes with the hot air below the innertop wall 2|.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof.

What I claim is:

1. A heater of the wall insert type comprising a casing having rear,side and top walls and having substantial open area in the front face, aheating element disposed within the casing, a partition or deectordisposed between the heating element and the rear and top walls andspaced from the latter to shield the latter from the heat of the heatingelement and also to provide therewith a passage for relatively cool air,and a deilector extending inwardly of said casing between said top walland said partition to provide a passage above the def-lector for relalii) tively cool air and including a portion projecting forwardly of theforwardmost portion of the heater above the def-lector a distance atleast as great as the minimum width of the last-mentioned passage, saidprojecting portion thereby serving to deflect the hot air away from thefront face of the heater and to maintain the hot and the relatively coolair streams divided until the latter attains substantially Verticalflow.

2. A heater as set forth in claim 1 and further including a grillextending across the front face of the heater, said deilector beingattached to and carried by said grill adjacent the top thereof andremovable therewith as a unit.

3. A heater of the wall insert type comprising an outer casing havingrear, side and bottom walls and an outwardly inclined top wall, an innercasing having a rear, side and bottom walls and an outwardly inclinedtop wall, the walls of the inner casing being disposed in opposed butspaced relation to the corresponding walls of the outer casing, aheating element disposed within the inner casing, said inner and outercasings having substantial open areas in the front face of the heater,and an air deflector comprising a portion extending parallel to butspaced from the inclined top wall of the outer casing and anotherportion extending to a point beyond the front face of the heater, theouter edge of said deflector beingspaced horizontally from theforwardmost portion of the heater above the deflector a distance atleast equal to the minimum width of the passage above the deflector.

4. A heater of the wall insert type comprising an outer casing havingrear, side and bottom walls and an outwardly inclined top wall, an innercasing having a rear, side and bottom walls and an outwardly inclinedtop wall, the walls of the inner casing being disposed in opposite butspaced relation to the corresponding walls of the outer casing, aheating element disposed within the inner casing, said inner and outercasings having substantial open areas in the front face of the heater, aframe disposed about the open front face of the outer casing, a grilledisposed within and attached to said frame and extending across thefront face of the heater, a deflector disposed on top of and attached tosaid grille and extending inwardly and outwardly from the grille, saiddeflector being spaced from the outer inclined top wall and the frame toprovide with them a passage for relatively cool air, and to defleet theheated air flowing below said deilector.

NOEL E. BLAZER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,148,057 Sharpe July 27, 19151,456,472 Stein May 22, 1923 1,652,438 Hicks Dec. 13, 1927 1,720,373Mulvany July 9, 1929 2,476,579 Becker July 19, 1949

